The Role of Scouting in Physical Education at the Beginning of 20th Century

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RES GESTAE. CZASOPISMO HISTORYCZNE 2020 (11) ISSN 2450-4475

Péter Várnagy* Pécs

Éva Szederkényi** Pécs

The Role of Scouting in Physical Education

at the Beginning of the 20

th

_Century

Abstract

Th is article highlights the existing evidence for the interdependence between scouting and sport in Hungary and in other parts of the world at the beginning of the 20th_{century (1912–1932).}

Keywords: Scouting, sports, mental and physical health

Słowa kluczowe: skauting, zdrowie duchowe i ﬁ zyczne

From the foundation of the Hungarian Scout Association (1912) to the present day a great emphasis has been placed on maintaining a harmonious balance between the physical and mental personality development in youth education. In the following pages, the authors would like to highlight the existing evi-dence for the interdepenevi-dence between scouting and sport in Hungary and in other parts of the world at the beginning of the 20th_{century (1912–1932).}

Th e Stockholm Olympic Games (1912) highlighted the importance of scouting for boys, which was invented by Lord Baden-Powell at the begin-ning of the century, and in particular for the enhancement of their sports per-formance. At that time, this relationship was voiced strongly in contempo-rar sports press around the world, including in Hungary, for example in the “Magyar Cserkész” (Hungarian Scout) and in “Zászlónk” (Our Flag). It is not a coincidence that the “Sport Enciklopédia” (Encyclopedia of Sport) published in the 1920s includes a separate chapter on scouting in connection with sports.

DOI 10.24917/24504475.11.16

* University of Pécs, Faculty of Humanities, Institute for Human Development and Cul-tural Studies, Department of CulCul-tural Studies; e-mail: varnagy.peter@pte.hu; ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8370-2443

** University of Pécs, Faculty of Humanities, Institute for Human Development and Cul-tural Studies, Department of Adult Education and Human Development; e-mail: szederkenyi. eva@pte.hu; ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9523-5878

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Scouting both in Hungary and worldwide features characteristics related to sports and physical education. Its aim has been to educate boys to become good citizens through intense character training, physical exercise and prac-tical skill development in line with the Scout Law and the so-called “Vow”. Unlike any other pedagogical form, this one is based on self-education. Th us, scouting is not complementary to school curriculum and does not consist pri-marily of sports or physical education, but it is a lifestyle.1

It is worth mentioning that in the United States of the 1920s as manu as 40 university departments focused on scout pedagogy. At the same time re-nowned Hungarian professors, including Sándor Karácsony, Sándor Sík and Pál Teleki, emphasised the pedagogical importance of scouting, too. According to them, scouting was not just a form but also a lifetime physical and mental program. In fact, in many countries of the world, scout laws attempted to gen-erate everyday commitment to physical exercise in order to strengthen nation-al consciousness and promote the idea of humanitarianism.

Th e Boy Scouts International Bureau was established in London in 1920 and decided that a regular World Scout Conference should be held biennially in diﬀ erent countries, with the ﬁ rst one organised in Paris (1922). Th e Danish Conference (1924) attracted delegates from as many as 34 nations, whereas delegates from 40 nations, including Hungary, participated in the conference in Switzerland (Kandersteg, 1926). As far as sports are concerned, it should be noted that the results of the World Scout Championship (Denmark, 1924) placed the United States at the top (181 points), followed by England (172 points) and Hungary (166 points).

Th e “Magyar Cserkész” (Hungarian Scout Magazine) devotes more than 20 pages to the program2_{, spirit and success of the World Jamboree. Below is}

a summary table with national results from multiple sports categories.

As J.S. Wilson writes, “Hungarian Sea Scouts were present at a Sea Scout Rally held in the summer of 1927 at Helsingør in Denmark”.3_Th_{e rally took}

place on the ﬁ ft eenth anniversary of the founding of Denmark’s Sea Scouting. Th e Hungarian Scouts ﬁ nished with the highest score, which is especially note-worthy given that their competition including traditionally sea-faring nations such as the English, Danish and Germans. Th ey brought home two silver and two crystal cups from this jubilee competition.

Th e described series of competitions draw our attention to the fact that, in addition to the mental development of young people, it was also their physical education that was pursued in Hungary. Th e origins of this approach date back to the 1910s, when the Hungarian Scouts under Sándor Sík—a priest, renowned poet, Catholic monk and university professor—organised a large-scale raft ing event on the Vág (Váh) River, in which more than a hundred Hungarian scouts from 12 localities took part. Th is adventurous, diﬃ cult outing seems to have brought about the establishment of the Hungarian Sea Scouting in 1920 under

1_{H. Kunszt, 1928, p. 312.}

2_{“Magyar Cserkész”, 8–9, 1924, p. 113–136.} 3_{J.S. Wilson, 1959, p. 81.}

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the direction of Gyula Zsembery. In the same year, Hungarian scouts sailed on the Danube and other Hungarian rivers (Sió, Kapos, Zala, Rába, Lajta) as well as on Lake Balaton for a total of about a thousand kilometres.

Table: Results of the World Scout Championship 4

A pp ea ra nc e C am p sk ill s Si ng in g, sh ou tin g N at io na l d an ce s C am pf ir e fu n Sc ou tin g C om pe tit io n I. Sc ou tin g C om pe tit io n II . (C an oe ) Sc ou t t ro op s c om pe tit io n 24 -h ou r s co ut in g to ur Sw im m in g En ca m pm en t A ll in a ll R an k Austria 13 13 18 12 11 9 9 13 14 18 12 142 6 Chile 15 13 10 7 10 10 4 10 0 0 12 91 11 Denmark 13 19 17 14 10 - 17 - - 16 10 - -England 18 19 15 17 18 13 12 10 18 16 16 172 2 Finland - - - 18* - - 13 - - -France 15 15 9 13 12 13 13 10 14 12 10 136 8 Hungary 16 (6) 17 (2) 13 (5) 14 (4) 18 (1) 14 (1) 13*(2) 11 (8) 14 (5) 17 (2) 19 (1) 166 3 Italy 8 11 15 11 0 10 9 13 13 10 11 111 10 Luxemburg 10 10 5 0 11 7 10 0 0 12 10 75 12 Netherlands 16 16 5 15 12 10 13 15 12 11 10 135 9 Norway 19 16 9 7 17 12 15 17 14 14 18 158 4 Poland 17 17 13 15 12 10 15 13 15 10 18 155 5 Switzerland 18 9 14 6 18 9 11 14 15 10 15 139 7 USA 17 17 17 13 18 11 20* 18 20 16 14 181 1

Source: “Magyar Cserkész”, 8–9, 1924, p. 130.

Famous authors have commented on the relationship between scouting and physical education. In his famous Rovering to Success (1959), Lord Baden-Pow-ell describes sport as an important element of scouting, which plays an impor-tant role not only in the physical but also mental and spiritual life of every youngster. Moreover, Győző Temesy—a geographer, teacher, school director and scout leader—poses a couple of questions in relation to scouting in his ar-ticle Th e Power of Intelligence from 1930, arguing that to train intelligence one needs to practice physical exercise and sports, but without too much passion.5

Sándor Imre, Hungary’s Secretary of State and later Professor of Education in Szeged, wrote: “We look forward to reinforcing the impact of school edu-cation, promoting the physical and mental freshness and steady growth of the scout, and developing a sense of comradeship and brotherhood through living

4_{“Magyar Cserkész”, 8–9, 1924, p. 130.} 5_{Gy. Temesy, 1930, p. 352–353.}

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together in a variety of circumstances”.6_{Under the leadership of Sándor Sík,}

the Hungarian Scout Delegation participated in the International Conference of Scout Leaders in Paris (1922). Th is was especially signifi cant as it was the fi rst time that Hungarian press reported on scout sports. Hungarian commen-tators proudly announced that the youth’s personality and soul-body balance could develop truly harmoniously through sport. On the 25th anniversary of the founding of scouting, some of the same writers briefl y summarised the infl uence of scouting on Hungarian society, including the ways in which scout-ing contributed to the institutionalisation of mass sports such as skiscout-ing and water sports.7

Scouting has always been based on the children’s need for self-realisation, their love of nature and their desire for companionship. One must hope that today’s scouting will raise well-performing Hungarian athletes and increase the number of young people following healthy lifestyles.

Bibliography

Baden-Powell of Gilwell R., 2015, Rovering to Success: A Book of Life-Sport for Young Men, Lon-don.

Hermann Gy. (ed.), 1920, “Magyar Cserkész” 1. Hermann Gy. (ed.), 1924, “Magyar Cserkész” 5.

Kisbarnaki Farkas F., 1937, A magyar cserkészet útja 1910–37 (Th e Way of Hungarian Scouting 1910–37), Budapest.

Kunszt H., 1928, A cserkészet (Scouting) [in]: A sport enciklopédiája II. (Th e Encyclopedia of Sport II.), ed. György Pálfy, Budapest.

Nyúl E.A., 2019, Állampolgárságra nevelés a cserkészetben (Citizenship Education in Scouting), [in:] Tudományos eredmények a nagyvilágból (Scientiﬁ c Results from around the World), ed. B. Tóth, Budapest, pp. 95–101.

Pálfy Gy. (ed.), 1928, A sport enciklopédiája I–II. (Th e Encyclopedia of Sport I–II.), Budapest. Temesy Gy., 1930, Az intelligencia ereje (Th e Power of Intelligence), “Magyar Cserkész” 11 (14),

pp. 352–353.

Wilson J.S., 1959, Scouting Round the World, London.

6_{“Magyar Cserkész”, 1, 1920, p. 2.} 7_{F. Kisbarnaki Farkas, 1937, p. 58.}